Revisiting Acute Kidney Injury in Minimal Change Disease in Adults- A Review of Literature

The occurrence of renal failure has been believed to be a common complication of nephrotic
syndrome associated with minimal change disease in children. In adults though, it has been relatively
more infrequently documented than in children. Acute kidney injury (AKI) has been described in
nephrotic syndrome in literature and has been associated with older age, systolic hypertension,
vascular disease and increasing severity of nephrotic syndrome. The underlying pathophysiology
responsible for the reduction of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) has been a matter of debate. We
present a case of an elderly patient who presented with worsening renal failure and review the
available literature on this entity of AKI in adult minimal change nephrotic syndrome. The long term
outlook for adult patients especially the elderly with pre-existing medical conditions presenting with
AKI while generally good is difficult to define and further long term follow-up studies specifically
addressing this issue are necessary. It is also not known that this stage if different treatment regimens
correlate with better recovery of renal function and are yet to be defined.